


Resurrection

by Alitomy



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Canon Temporary Character Death, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Gore, Serious Injuries, bopley deserve more love, let me know if more things need to be tagged bc im bad at tagging lol, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27244984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alitomy/pseuds/Alitomy
Summary: Copley wants to prove his (ex-CIA) skills and comes along on the recent job, and Booker has never been so distressed in his life.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/James Copley
Comments: 10
Kudos: 54





	Resurrection

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally meant to be from a dialogue prompt i found on tumblr but it headed in a completely different direction so i scrapped the prompt from this fic, oops

They had found themselves in a rather undesirable situation. 

Copley had demanded that he come along for this mission, wanting to prove that he could still hold his own in the field and not just be the tech guy behind the scenes. Booker absolutely hated this idea, not wanting to put the man who is very much mortal at risk of dying. He wasn’t going to lose the one good thing he had going for him because they decided to bring Copley with them. 

The building they were evacuating enslaved women and children from rumbled beneath them, and Andy ordered them to _’hurry the fuck up or you’ll be crushed!’_. Booker would have been fine with that outcome if he didn’t have Copley by his side with the last remaining women. Copley spoke to them in Hausa as they sped up, Andy yelling at them through their coms that they don’t have much time left. 

“We’re nearly there, Andy,” Booker replied to her, ushering along the trailing captives. “How much longer do we have?” 

“Not long enough! The whole building is gonna come crashing down any second!” He heard Nile reply and he looked at Copley, determination shining in his eyes. Nodding, Booker picked up two of the children and began to run, knowing Copley would translate the instructions as they neared the door. Setting the children down, Booker stood near the door and counted as each woman ran outside, ensuring they got all of them to safety. The whole building shook around them as Copley all but threw the last woman out the door, and Booker knew it was too late. 

“James, go!” Booker shouted in vain as the man stumbled, the debris falling on the both of them as the building caved in, and the world went black.

~

Booker came to with a groan. Coughing up the dust in his lungs, he concentrated on what he could move and what was crushed under concrete and debris. In his conclusion, he felt a heavy weight on both of his legs and his chest, with both arms free and his head was holding up some wooden planks. His com was crackling in his ear and was rendered useless, so now he was trapped and with no communication with the team. 

Slowly Booker lifted his arms and pushed the wooden planks away from his head, letting them crash down parallel beside him and more dust puffed into the air. With his head free, he lifted it slightly and surveyed the area. Mustering up the energy, he pushed the small concrete slab off of his chest and collapsed back in exhaustion, taking deep breaths that were more dust than oxygen if he was being honest with himself. 

He slowly sat up and rubbed his face free of dust, coughing slightly as he took a moment to calm himself down. Now was _not_ the time for a panic attack. Not when the team were looking for him and Copley-

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! James!” Booker’s strangled voice arose from his throat, no louder than a whisper. His ears were ringing, but that didn’t stop him from being able to hear his heartbeat pounding inside them. Copley, _James_ , was dead. There was no way he had survived the insurmountable weight of debris that fell on them both. 

Scrambling, Booker wriggled free his feet by lifting up the edge of the much larger concrete slab and stood, coughing away the dust and exhaustion. He didn’t care, he had to find Copley and bring him home. No way was he going to leave his body here, he deserved a proper burial. Picking up smaller pieces of debris and blowing his hair from his eyes, Booker cleared a small area from where he thought Copley was when the building came down on top of them. 

There he saw a hand peeking out from underneath the rubble, and a choked sound escaped from Booker’s lips. Frantically he pushed and pulled away the concrete and wood that had crashed onto Copley, and Booker only barely managed to keep his eyes free from tears when he removed the final piece of rubble away from his beloved. Lying on his back, Copley was covered in dust and rocks that had broken away from the concrete and blood that was seeping out from the rebar protruding through his abdomen. 

Falling to his knees, Booker choked back a sob and picked up Copley’s hand, encasing it in his own and bringing it to his lips to press a kiss to the knuckles, holding it there. 

“I’m so sorry, James,” he whispered, tears now falling. “I’m so sorry. I should have never let you come. We knew it would be too dangerous for you, I should have pushed back harder. I should not have let you argue your way into this because now look, you’re gone and it’s all my fault.” 

Booker could faintly hear the others shouting for him, the rubble crumbling as they made their way to him, but it didn’t register. 

Neither did the way Copley’s chest rose and fell, multiple times. 

“Booker-” Nile stopped in her tracks at the scene in front of her. Booker didn’t move from his spot beside Copley, not acknowledging their existence as they all stood around him and took in Copley’s injuries. Nile could hear Booker whisper apologies and sweet nothings in French into Copley’s hand, and she watched as the tears fell down his face. 

She glanced at the others when she saw it, and she knew they had too. Andy moved forward and placed a hand on Booker’s shoulder, gaining his attention before pointing at Copley’s chest. “Booker, look.” 

Booker watched as Copley’s chest rose and fell and he gasped, sliding his hands up to Copley’s cheeks and pressing their foreheads together. “Wake up, James. Please, wake up. S'il te plaît, mon amour.” 

Copley shuddered and sucked in a large breath, coughing as he did so and he slowly opened his eyes. “Bastien.” 

“Hey, hey, it’s me,” Booker pulled back slightly but remained close. He didn’t want Copley to know about his injury just yet. “You’re okay.” 

“I don’t feel okay,” Copley groaned as his body registered the pain in his abdomen. “What the fuck happened?” 

“Building collapsed. You and Booker were trapped,” Andy spoke. 

“The women? Children?” 

“Safe,” Nicky nodded. “They’re on a bus with our contact on their way home.” 

“Good, good,” Copley nodded and looked at Booker who still looked distraught. “Booker? What’s wrong?” 

The Frenchman sniffled and reluctantly moved away from him, allowing him to see the rebar sticking out of his stomach. Copley felt faint as he noticed the amount of blood that had soaked through his clothes more so than the fact that he had a piece of metal sticking through him. 

“I- What?” Copley stuttered in shock. “Why am I not dead?” 

“You were,” Booker whispered. “You were dead. I-I thought I lost you.” 

Copley sucked in a breath. He had _died_. But yet here he was with a fucking rebar penetrating through his stomach and he was alive and breathing. Thoughts swirled in his mind as he tried to make sense of it all, but he just ended up with blanks. 

“James, we need to get you off this thing,” Booker’s voice broke through his thoughts. “We- I don’t know how but we need to get out of here and we can’t lift up a whole piece of concrete.” 

“We lift him, not the concrete,” Nicky spoke. “It’s not pretty, trust me, but it’s the only way when we have no tools.” 

“Fuck,” Booker swore and Copley groaned at the same time, Booker taking Copley’s hand and squeezing it as a form of support, but also because he knows this will be absolutely painful. The others took that as permission to move and put their plan into action, each grabbing Copley and counting down before lifting. 

The pained sounds that were elicited from Copley’s throat would haunt Booker for years to come. 

~

Back at the safehouse Booker took Copley straight to the bathroom, having called shotgun as soon as they got into the car. He sat the man on the lid of the toilet and ran the water for a bath before sitting on the edge and putting his head in his hands. 

“I think I’m the one who should be feeling like that,” Copley spoke, and Booker looked up to find the man grinning.

“How are you so calm about this? You died and came back to life! Why aren’t you-”

“All messed up?” Copley asked, tilting his head.

“Well, yeah. That shit is traumatic and you’re acting like you’ve been dying and coming back to life for centuries!” Booker ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the grime that transferred onto his fingers. 

“Sebastien, I’ve been working with you guys for a few years now. The concept is not new to me anymore,” Copley stood from the toilet seat and kneeled between Booker’s legs, placing his hands on the Frenchman’s thighs. “I’m sure this will all catch up to me and I will need to take a breather, but for now let’s take a nice warm bath and be happy that I _didn’t_ die today, hm?” 

Booker stared at him, watching and waiting for any signs of the man spiralling from this newfound ‘power’ that Booker saw as a curse. When he found none he nodded and cupped Copley’s cheeks, gently pulling him in and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Slowly, his hands moved down to Copley’s waist and he tugged the bloodied shirt up and over the man’s head, his fingers trailing around the skin that had reformed after being pierced. 

“See? Good as new,” Copley grinned, placing his hands on Booker’s and squeezing softly. “We’ll get through this.” 

“I can’t believe I could have lost you today,” Booker whispered. “The one good thing in my life would have been taken away from me.” 

“Yet I am right here, so let’s make the most of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> lets give Bopley some love bc they deserve it
> 
> follow me on tumblr: alit0my


End file.
